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IT WAS SHOPPING bags at dawn for Macclesfield bargain hunter Kelly Walmsley, who was the very first person through the Trafford Centre’s doors for the Boxing Day sales.

Shopaholic Kelly, 29, arrived just after 4am in the cold and dark at the Manchester retail outlet, 50 minutes before security guards opened up.

She was number one of an estimated 130,000 people throughout the Bank Holiday to pile into the shopping mall, with 25,000 inside by the time all the shops had opened at 10am.

Kelly said: “I’ve been coming every year since the centre opened and this year I’ve timed it perfectly. I’ll take anything at all as long as it’s a bargain.”

It would seem her 4am arrival – to get in line for the sale at Next and Next Kids which opened their doors at 7am – was worth it.

She came away with £200 worth of clothes, including boots, jeans and a leather jacket; reduced from £120 to £30.

Kelly’s sister, 27-year-old Lucy Wardle from Burnage, Manchester, who is six months pregnant with her first child, was third in the queue for Next Kids – and was one of the first out having snapped up more than ten baby items for just £30.

She said: “I’ve got a lot more than I thought I would.”

Queues formed along half the length of the centre and into the car park for the two Trafford Centre branches which were among the only ones in the country to open on Boxing Day.

Some shoppers brought breakfast supplies and around 200 staff, including family and friends of employees, were taken on by Next to man the mammoth sale, a manager said.

Around a thousand shoppers were given clear plastic carrier bags by staff before they burst through the doors to fight it out in the frenzy.

The tills were also ringing at department stores Debenhams and Selfridges within minutes of opening at 8am.

In Manchester City Centre, House of Fraser – formerly Kendal’s – started its sale on Boxing Day for the first year and opened at 10am, while The Arndale Centre also opened its doors.